Content area
Full Text
[Image omitted] - Tivicay
Project name: dolutegravir
Disease: HIV
Peak sales estimate: $5 billion
Approved: Aug. 12
Companies: GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer (ViiV Healthcare)
The Scoop:
Back in 2009, when GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) and Pfizer ($PFE) entered into the joint venture ViiV Healthcare , analysts wondered whether it was just a roundabout way for the companies to eventually move out of the controversial HIV market area. But leadership asserted that ViiV, majority-owned by Glaxo, would help develop a more productive HIV pipeline capable of competing with market powerhouse Gilead ($GILD).
Fast-forward to the fall of 2012, when Japan's Shionogi joined ViiV, grabbing 10% of the venture and bringing with it its late-stage integrase inhibitor dolutegravir , which had been shown in earlier studies to prevent HIV from penetrating cells. With the deal, Viiv...